Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, before conservation work, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2017, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, from conservation documentation, designed and drawn by A. Kazberuk, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, restoration work, details, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, restoration work, details, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska
 Submit additional information
ID: POL-001651-P/149135

Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska

ID: POL-001651-P/149135

Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska

Among the numerous, chaotically scattered tombstones in the Bereza (formerly Bereza Kartuska) cemetery, the monument to the Sapieha family stands out both in size and original form.

The former Bereza Kartuska is now Bereza in the Brest region of western Belarus. The local municipal cemetery is situated behind the southern wall of the former Carthusian monastery. There is an obelisk built of burnt brick. Deep recesses with profiled frames have been incorporated into its walls. Among the numerous, haphazardly scattered tombstones, it stands out for both its size and its original form. It is a tall pyramid (3.69 m) with the base of an isosceles triangle (with a side of 2.25 m). Despite its undoubtedly 19th-century provenance, it is not on the list of cultural monuments of the Republic of Belarus.

Sapieha family necropolis
. An analysis of archival documents has made it possible to link the monument to the Sapieha princely family, whose representatives from the Cherno-Rozh line were buried in one of the crypts of the Carthusian church. The church and monastery complex, in its basic framework, was built in the years 1648-1666 and was founded by the Lithuanian sub-chancellor Kazimierz Leon Sapieha as a family necropolis. Despite the dissolution of the monastery (1831) by a tsarist decree, which officially followed the monks' involvement in the November Uprising, the Carthusia survived for another three decades. When a tin coffin with the remains of Kazimierz Leon Sapieha was found during the demolition of the church in 1869, it was decided that both the ashes of the sub-chancellor and the coffin from the church crypt would be moved to the local cemetery. In its central part, a common burial of all Sapiehy's deceased originally deposited in the Kartuzy church was carried out and a brick obelisk was erected.

Obelisk on the grave of the Sapiehs - conservation work
. For many years, the object was exposed to adverse weather conditions. The whitewashed masonry structure was undergoing a process of destruction - the surface of the plaster and bricks was weathering (one of the corners was badly damaged), metal elements in the niches were corroding. The dilapidated state of the building material posed a threat to the stability of the monument - the partially scarred bricks were sagging on the surface, and rainwater seeping into the cracks was damaging the object from the inside, especially during freezing temperatures. The fragmentary preserved plaster and profile remains were infested with micro-organisms.

The necessary repair and conservation work on the obelisk was initiated by Dorota Piramidowicz from the Art Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and funding was obtained from the Programme of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage 'Protection of Cultural Heritage Abroad'. The work (2018) was carried out by the Polish art conservator Andrzej Kazberuk together with two Bereza residents - journalist Mikola Sinkevich and teacher Vasily Novik. Their aim was to secure the object and reconstruct defects and install inscription plates. Bricks from the ruins of the former Carthouse were used for the reconstruction work. This was fully justified, as the monument had just been erected from materials obtained during the demolition of the monastery and church. The obelisk was reinforced and the necessary additions were made to its walls, plaster and cavity profiles. In the finial, a cross made of metal flat bar was placed, supported on a sphere forged from sandstone. The four differently shaped niches were fitted with contemporary designed plaques made of dark Swedish granite. They feature a coat-of-arms shield with a Sapieha fox, the date 1869 and the inscriptions: "To the ashes of the representatives of the Sapieha family transferred here from the crypt of the Carthusian church in Bereza in 1869" (in Belarusian and Polish) and the Latin maxim "Requiescant in pace". On one of the walls of the obelisk, two more plaques were mounted with a list of names of the Sapiehs buried here, reconstructed on the basis of archival records and literature related to the history of the family (in Belarusian and Polish).

The restored monument, which is no longer a brick ruin, has re-emerged in the consciousness of Bereza residents as a memorial to the princes who died and were buried here.

Commemorated Sapiehas
Kazimierz Leon Sapieha (1609-1656) - Chancellor of Lithuania, founder of the Carthusian monastery in Bereza,
. Pawel Jan Sapieha (1610-1665) - Voivode of Vilnius, Grand Hetman of Lithuania,
. Anna of Kopciów Sapieżyna (1627-1707) - Voivode of Vilnius, wife of Paweł Jan,
. Kazimierz Jan Sapieha (c. 1642-1720) - governor of Vilnius, Grand Hetman of Lithuania,
. Leon Bazyli Sapieha (1652 or 1656-1686) - General of the Lithuanian Artillery,
. Franciszek Stefan Sapieha (?-1686) - Lithuanian Count,
Zofia Sapieżanka (?-1694) - daughter of Franciszek Stefan, Lithuanian Convoy,
Maria de Béthune Sapieżyna (1677-1721) - Grand Marshal of Lithuania, wife of Alexander Paul,
. Jerzy Stanisław Sapieha (1667-1732) - Voivode of Mstislavl,
. Krystyna Sapieżanka (?-1733) - daughter of Jerzy Felicjan, Mścisławski Voivode,
. Kazimierz Józef Sapieha (?-1749) - starosta of Olkienice and Jałów,
. Michał Antoni Sapieha (1711-1760) - Chancellor of Lithuania,
. Tekla née Radziwiłłów Sapieżyna (1703-1747) - Chancellor of Lithuania, wife of Michał Antoni,
. Aleksander Michał Sapieha (1730-1793) - Voivode of Polotsk, Grand Chancellor of Lithuania,
. Michał Ksawery Sapieha (1735-1766) - Countryman of Lithuania,
. Magdalena Agnieszka née Lubomirska Sapieżyna (1739-1780) - Chancellor of Lithuania, wife of Aleksander Michał,
. Franciszek Sapieha (1772-1829) - General of the Lithuanian Artillery.

Time of origin:

1869

Author:

Dorota Piramidowicz
see more Text translated automatically
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, before conservation work, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2017, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, from conservation documentation, designed and drawn by A. Kazberuk, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, restoration work, details, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, restoration work, details, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieh family in the Bereza cemetery, during conservation work, photo Andrzej Kazberuk, 2018, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved
Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Photo showing Tombstone monument to the Sapieha family in Bereza Kartuska Gallery of the object +10
Obelisk of the Sapieha family in the Bereza cemetery, after conservation work, photo M. Sinkiewicz, 2019, all rights reserved

Related projects

1
  • Archiwum Polonik tygodnia Show